--- title: Windsurf slug: windsurf url: "https://toolweight.com/tools/windsurf" homepage: "https://windsurf.com" categories: coding-agents last_verified: 2026-11-07 dataset_version: 0738be72 license: CC-BY-4.0 --- # Windsurf > Agentic IDE built around Cascade, now owned by Cognition after a turbulent 2025. - Agentic IDE whose Cascade flow keeps the agent aware of what you do in the editor, not just your prompt. - After an aborted OpenAI acquisition, a Google licensing deal and Cognition buying the remainder in mid-2025, it sits alongside Devin under one owner. - Ships in-house models and prices in credits, making real monthly cost hard to forecast. ## Identity | | | | --- | --- | | Name | Windsurf | | Company | Cognition | | One-liner | Agentic IDE built around Cascade, now owned by Cognition after a turbulent 2025. | | Site | https://windsurf.com | | Founded | 2021 | | Open source | No | | Licence | Proprietary | | Compared in | 1 | ## Where it is compared ### [Coding agents](https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents) Ranked **#16 of 17** on default weights. | Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note | Permalink | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Surface | standalone editor, IDE extension | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://windsurf.com | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--surface | | Default model | Windsurf's in-house SWE model, with frontier models selectable | Community-reported | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--default_model | | Model breadth | multi-vendor | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--model_breadth | | Repo indexing | embeddings index | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Codeium's retrieval engine predates the agent and is the strongest inherited asset. | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--repo_indexing | | Plan mode | ● | Community-reported | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--plan_mode | | Checkpoint & undo | ● | Community-reported | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--checkpointing | | Headless / CI | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--headless_ci | | Local models | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--local_models | | Where it stops | 3 | Inferred | - | - | Cascade edits and runs commands in the editor; PR involvement is review-side rather than authoring. | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--stops_at | | MCP | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--mcp_support | | Subagents | - | Unknown | 2026-11-07 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--subagents | | Hooks | - | Unknown | 2026-11-07 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--hooks | | Skills / commands | ● | Community-reported | - | - | Rules and workflow files. | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--skills_commands | | Background agents | ◐ | Community-reported | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--background_agents | | Opens PRs | ◐ | Community-reported | - | - | Review-side integration is stronger than authoring. | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--pr_authoring | | Permissions | granular allowlist | Inferred | - | - | Command allowlists inside the editor; no OS sandbox we could verify. | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--permission_model | | BYOK | ◐ | Community-reported | - | - | Available on some plans and models, not as a general escape hatch. | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--byok | | Licence | proprietary | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--licence | | Pricing model | opaque credits | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://windsurf.com/pricing | Prompt credits; the credit-to-token conversion is vendor-defined. | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--pricing_model | | Entry price | $15/seat/mo | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://windsurf.com/pricing | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--entry_price | | Token markup | ● | Inferred | - | - | Credits abstract over tokens; you cannot pay a provider directly at list. | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--gateway_markup | | GitHub stars | N/A | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-07 | https://devin.ai/desktop | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--github_stars | | Terminal-Bench | - | Unknown | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--terminal_bench | | Bench model | - | Unknown | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--terminal_bench_model | | Positioning | The agentic IDE where you and the agent stay in flow together. | Vendor-claimed | - | https://windsurf.com | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--positioning | | First release | 2024-11-13 | Community-reported | - | - | Windsurf Editor launch; Codeium's plugins are older. | https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents#windsurf--first_release | **Verdict.** Strong editor-aware Cascade, but 2025 ownership churn is a continuity risk and credit pricing clouds cost. ## Alternatives - [Aider](https://toolweight.com/tools/aider), Minimal terminal pair-programmer with a tree-sitter repo map and automatic git commits. - [Amp](https://toolweight.com/tools/amp), Sourcegraph's opinionated agent with no model picker and an ad-supported free tier. - [Claude Code](https://toolweight.com/tools/claude-code), Anthropic's terminal-first agent, with IDE, web and GitHub Action surfaces. - [Cline](https://toolweight.com/tools/cline), Open-source VS Code and JetBrains agent built around an explicit plan/act split. - [Codex CLI](https://toolweight.com/tools/codex-cli), OpenAI's open-source Rust agent, with the strongest local sandboxing on this page. - [Cursor](https://toolweight.com/tools/cursor), VS Code fork with a real codebase index, background cloud agents and a CLI. - [Devin](https://toolweight.com/tools/devin), Fully delegated cloud engineer: file a task in Slack or the web app, get a PR back. - [DIY harness](https://toolweight.com/tools/diy-harness), Your own loop over a model API with an agent SDK, the build-it-yourself reference point. - [Gemini CLI](https://toolweight.com/tools/gemini-cli), Apache-2.0 terminal agent from Google with an unusually generous free tier. - [GitHub Copilot (Agent HQ)](https://toolweight.com/tools/github-copilot), Copilot's coding agent plus a control plane for running third-party agents on your repos. - [Goose](https://toolweight.com/tools/goose), Block's Apache-2.0 agent, MCP-native from the start, as both a CLI and a desktop app. - [Grok Build](https://toolweight.com/tools/grok-build), xAI's coding harness, launched July 2026, on this page but not yet verified. ## Logo & brand colours SVG files: https://toolweight.com/teams/windsurf/logo.svg and https://toolweight.com/teams/windsurf/mono.svg. JSON: https://toolweight.com/api/v1/brands/windsurf. | Hex | oklch | | --- | --- | | #0b100f | oklch(16.7% 0.008 181.8) | ## Licence and attribution Data from Toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0. - Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) - Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/tools/windsurf - Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/tools/windsurf.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp - Toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements.